On December 17 a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a solar power generation system donated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) took place at the Dong Anh-Okinawa Economic and Cultural Exchange Center (DOWACEN) in Hanoi, a facility that also provides Japanese language teaching. MHI donated the system, which consists of tandem-type photovoltaic (PV) modules and peripheral equipment, to DOWACEN in accordance with the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, one theme of which is to support emerging countries through its products. The solar power generation system will provide electricity for classroom lighting and enable uninterrupted teaching even during power outages.

The ceremony was attended by Koji Kondo, General Manager of MHI’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department; Tomoo Hirayama, MHI’s Hanoi Office Chief Representative; Hirotaka Masuda, President of MHI Aerospace Vietnam Co., Ltd. (MHIVA), the company’s commercial aircraft component production subsidiary in Hanoi; and ten MHIVA employees who graduated from DOWACEN. At the ceremony, after a commemorative plaque to be fit on the system and the list of donated goods was handed to DOWACEN, the switch to activate the system was turned on.

The solar power generation system donated includes “MHI Tandem” tandem-type PV modules with a total power generation capacity of approximately 12 kilowatts, a power conditioner and module mounting structure. Being operable as a stand-alone power source, the system is able to provide electricity for four classrooms, for lighting and other uses, during a power outage.

The MHI Tandem is a next-generation thin-film PV module having a tandem layer structure consisting of a microcrystalline silicon layer on conventional amorphous silicon layer. Tandem-type PV modules are able to absorb a wider solar-spectral range – from ultraviolet to infrared – and generate more electricity than amorphous type PV modules.

DOWACEN was jointly established in 1997 by the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association of Hanoi, the Okinawa-Vietnam Friendship Association and Okinawa-Vietnam Exchange Association Co., Ltd. It is situated near the Thang Long Industrial Park (TLIP), where many Japanese companies, including MHIVA, have plants. DOWACEN undertakes human resource development, including Japanese language teaching. The center has 36 staff members and can accommodate about 400 students monthly, primarily training local employees working in TLIP. Since MHIVA has delegated Japanese language lessons for 45 core local employees to DOWACEN in 2008 for the start-up of MHIVA, DOWACEN has continuously provided local employees of MHIVA with basic Japanese language lessons.

As a company conducting global operations, MHI places great importance on supporting emerging countries and developing countries, reflecting its CSR action guidelines. After donating the solar power generation system as a symbolic case, going forward MHI will leverage its products and technologies to further enhance its contributions to solving global-level social issues such as environmental protection, educational support, and poverty mitigation.